Greek Cops Caught on Video Posing as Anarchists

A Greek television show has revealed how Greek police posed as anarchists and destroyed property. Inciting violence and blaming it on legitimate activists is a favorite tactic of the state in order to crack down on protest and dismiss genuine grievances.

A Greek television show documenting police acting as anarchists and engaging in property damage.

In 2007, agents provocateurs attempted to incite violence in Montebello, Canada, during a peaceful protest against a Prosperity Partnership summit. A video and photographs later revealed the so-called anarchists were wearing the same military boots as the police. “Neither the RCMP nor the Surete du Quebec would comment on the video or even discuss generally whether they ever use the tactic of employing agents provocateurs, however it has been common practice at previous protests for authorities to employ police or special forces to intentionally infiltrate peaceful protests and cause violence,” Steve Watson wrote on August 22, 2007.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Other documented instances of agents provocateurs used against peaceful protests occurred in Seattle in 1999 at the World Trade Organization meeting, at the WTO protests in Genoa, Italy, and during protests in Miami in late November 2003. The United Steelworkers of America called for a congressional investigation in the latter case and stated that the police intentionally caused violence and arrested and charged hundreds of peaceful protesters. Earlier this year, MP George Galloway accused the London Metropolitan Police of engaging in “a deliberate conspiracy to bring about scenes of violent disorder” during President George W. Bush’s visit to the UK.

Police have gone to great lengths to subvert antiwar organizations. In 2003, two Oakland police officers working undercover at an anti-war protest were elected to leadership positions in an effort to influence the demonstration, according to the San Franciso Chronicle. “The ACLU said the Oakland case was one of several instances in which police agencies had spied on legitimate political activity since 2001.”

Over the years, FBI provocateurs have repeatedly urged and initiated violent acts, including forceful disruptions of meetings and demonstrations, attacks on police, bombings, and so on, following an old strategy of Tsarist police director TC Zubatov: “We shall provoke you to acts of terror and then crush you.”

In October, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga suggested the police be used as agents provocateurs to start riots and then have the police “beat the shit out of the protesters”. Cossiga was one of the founders of Operation Gladio, the CIA and NATO “stay behind army” that engaged in terrorist bombings and assassinations that were subsequently blamed on leftist organizations.

“Cossiga is essentially describing the problem-reaction-solution dialectic that he exploited when he was in government. Under the banner of Operation GLADIO, which was unveiled after parliamentary investigations in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, NATO sponsored secret armies committed acts of violence and terrorism and blamed the attacks on left-wing political movements, allowing far-right governments to seize power in numerous European countries,” explains Paul Joseph Watson.

The Greek people now have evidence of a similar campaign as they attempt to mobilize against the neoliberal dominated Greek state and its bankster stooges who have brought economic misery to the country. As a matter of course, this vital information will not be brought out in the corporate media as it attempts to discredit peaceful political organizations.